Jets' QB Mark Sanchez, a mensch at large, visits sick fan

Associated PressJet QB Mark Sanchez and center Nick Mangold leave the field after last week's win over Pittsburgh.

It's one of those quiet Christmas tales that's unfolded in an almost invisible way.

It won't grab any headlines, not in the sizzle-and-glitz-addicted world we live in now.

In fact, the people involved don't even want us to know about it.

The story is about a young boy named Aidan, who lives with his family just over one of the bridges that stretches off our borough. You could hop in your car and be at his house in no time.

He's been sick, this grade-schooler. And, though we're all hoping, he might not get better.

Truth is, it could be a bleak and unforgiving future for Aidan. But the boy does like football; loves it in fact. Big fan of Mark Sanchez, the Jets quarterback.

The Atlas Foundation, which does such good work hereabouts, heard of the very sick boy who loves the game and the hometown quarterback.

And, as is his way, Teddy Atlas got involved. He called the Jets, Aidan's favorite team.

FAVORITE PLAYER

Could they make arrangements to have Aidan and his two little brothers come over for a practice?

"Sure," said the Jets.

And they did.

The kids came. They took a tour, saw the locker room, and walked through Woody Johnson's offices, checking out the pictures on the walls.

The big moment came when they were introduced to Sanchez, Aidan's favorite player.

There was a football chat, a tousling of the hair, a meeting of the eyes.

Nothing much, really.

After all, what do a hearty, super-privileged 24-year-old professional sports star and a seriously sick little boy have in common?

But something happened during that meeting between the child and the rich, young pro athlete who has the whole world laid out in front of him.

It was something very simple and very true.

And last week, after the Jets and Sanchez scrapped their way to a huge win over the Steelers in snowy Pittsburgh, the quarterback made some post-game references about his new friend, and a game ball left the Jets' compound addressed to Aidan's home.

TEDDY'S MESSAGE

Atlas, who has spent the better part of his life empowering boxers to face critical moments, sent Sanchez a note. In it, the long-time trainer made an observation that was as much about being a person as it was about being a quarterback.

"Now you know what your true strength is," Atlas wrote of the way the football star had lifted the boy's spirits. "You have the ability to have an extraordinary effect on people. That's a powerful thing."

In most cases, it would have all ended there. Aidan would go back to fighting his fight; Mark Sanchez back to resting his balky shoulder and preparing for today's game against the Bears.

But that's not the way this story goes.

During the usual in-season NFL work week, Tuesday is the day off.

Most players use it to spend time with family, to nurse the wounds of the previous Sunday, and, if they are really lucky (like Sanchez), to squire around models and starlets and pose for photo shoots for fashion magazines.

Last Tuesday, Aidan was feeling even worse than usual from all the drugs he must take and treatments he undergoes regularly, and so he spent most of the afternoon sleeping on his family's living room couch. That while most kids his age were trimming Christmas trees and eating cookies and dreaming of Santa, and what was ahead for this weekend.

HANGING OUT

Aiden woke up groggy at one point, and opened his eyes.

He probably thought he was dreaming.

Mark Sanchez was sitting there waiting for him — like any friend would.

We're told the quarterback hadn't called ahead on his one day off.

He just showed up at the front door of Aidan's home.

When he found his new friend asleep, Sanchez asked if he might hang a while.

And so he did.

Then the two got down to kicking back and talking football, and doing what friends do.

The gesture, which we're not supposed to know about, won't change the world. Or even the outcome of Aidan's own personal story, which is serious and warrants all our prayers.

But it does say something good about what people can still be like, even in this era in which we live.

And for his part in it, we'll be rooting some for Mark Sanchez as the final games on the NFL schedule wind down.